I visited the Chester Bethel Church and Cemetery this week to shoot some photos of gravestones for FindAGrave.com. I gave myself an hour to photograph three grave sites. Of course, it didn’t work out as planned! The cemetery was larger than I thought and I couldn’t find the headstones in question. I quickly gave up and entered the church in search of help.

The first thing I learned was that there are now TWO churches. The old church, somewhat crumbly and deteriorated, is now used as a thrift shop. The new church is located a few hundred yards north of the older one. Neither one had any information about the cemetery.

The historical marker placed on the site reads as follows:

The roots of this congregation can be traced to the efforts of Methodist pioneer Thomas Webb, who visited this area to spread the message of his faith in the years prior to the American Revolution. Influenced by his sincerity and eloquence, a local society of Methodists was organized circa 1775. The first meetings were held in the homes of its members. Around 1780, a log meeting house was constructed on land provided by Robert Cloud. Known as Cloud’s Chapel, this building served the congregation until 1799, when it was replaced by a stone structure that became known as Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1873, the members decided to build a church at the opposite end of the adjoining graveyard. Additional land was obtained, and a new serpentine stone and brick building was completed and dedicated in 1874. After nearly a century of use, the need for a new sanctuary arose, and the present church was constructed. The building was formally opened on October 15, 1972.

Chester Bethel Church, historical marker

Here’s a pic of the new church.

Here’s some information from the church website.

Chester Bethel United Methodist Church is located on Foulk Road, just south of the Delaware-Pennsylvania state line. It is the oldest Methodist congregation which has continuously gathered in the state of Delaware. Dating back to before the Declaration of Independence, this Methodist society originally met in the homes of its members, notably that of Robert Cloud.

Cloud’s Chapel, a log meeting house, was built in 1789 on an acre of land; this building was torn down and replaced, in 1799, by a stone church christened Bethel.

In 1873, the serpentine church was built and the name was changed to Chester Bethel, commemorating the previous church and the original preaching circuit of which this congregation was a part.

In the 1900s, other growth and expansion projects were completed: a new parsonage (1913), Fellowship Hall (1959) and a new sanctuary (1972).

Chester Bethel currently sits on 20 acres of land, most of which is devoted to its cemetery. The church also provides a Little League ball field for the local community, and a Thrift Shop is run out of the old Serpentine church. The building where the Sanctuary and Fellowship Hall are located, also houses a preschool and daycare. (The Preschool and Daycare Facility is now housed in the new modular buildings behind the church.) A Community Garden is be available to the public this coming spring and summer!

All of these ministries have been a natural expression of Chester Bethel’s life as a church. Worship and Sunday School have been the central part of the life, out of which everything else flows and develops. Mission work, in the local community and worldwide, has been a hallmark of Chester Bethel from early in its history.

Early History

Francis Asbury, one of the circuit riders and an early American Methodist, preached twice at Bethel, according to his journal. He was there in 1809, and again on May 2, 1810. He wrote of his 1810 experience, “I spoke at the Bethel Chapel, a beautiful new house.” (Quoted from C.E. Hallman’s “Garden of Methodism.”)

In 1849, someone attempted to introduce a new songbook, the “Lute of Zion”, in the Bethel services. The pastor and many others opposed this “sacrilegious innovation”, but younger and more aggressive members argued for it.

One good brother is quoted as saying, “Anybody with common sense ought to know that it will not help the voice to look when you sing upon those things you call keys and bars, with black and white tadpoles, some with their tails up, some with their tails down, decorated with flags and trying to crawl through the fence. It’s all the work of the Devil”.

The Trustees closed the church but people kept meeting. The old Trustees were voted out and new Trustees voted in. The church split, and a new church named Siloam was formed one mile north of the present Chester Bethel church. The congregations have since reconciled and joint services are held on Thanksgiving Eve and Ash Wednesday. The reason for the split has been forgotten.

This history was compiled from papers left by Rev. Edwin Gardner, Ph.D. and Rev. Frank Lucia, both of whom served at Chester Bethel. Rev. Gardner was pastor from 1912 until 1913, and Rev. Lucia remained at Chester Bethel from 1964 until 1978.

Here’s a book by Frank R. Zebley from 1947 called The Churches of Delaware that has two pages on the church’s history. You can download it here. The Churches of Delaware by Frank R Zebley, 1947. Source: http://archives.delaware.gov/eBooks/ZebleyChurches.pdf.

The Cemetery

The cemetery is now under the management of Zebley Cemetery Services and owner Nicole Zebley. There is no website, unfortunately. Nicole has books and information about the names of the graves but it’s not in an organized format, having been added to over many years.

According to FindAGrave.com, there are 2,137 memorials added and the cemetery is 91% photographed. Here’s the FindAGrave page for Chester Bethel: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/275493/Chester-Bethel-Cemetery.